Tuesday, August 20, 2013

I haven't posted much in while have I? I've been really busy with home reno since we moved in here last year, but I haven't wanted to take pictures until it's 'done' and there's still so much to do. I think it might never be done.

Anyway so I painted this nightstand.

I've had this nighstand for a while; I picked it up for $20 on Craiglist. I liked it that it was small enough to fit in our narrow space, and it had a handy shelf and drawer. But it was plain blonde laminate and very boring.

When I was looking for ideas I saw this end table project. Pretty great right? I also happened to have a piece of wood that I 'reclaimed' from our storage space- the previous tenants had left it there when they moved. I had no idea what it was but it looked pretty nice.

It was originally a long narrow board (sorry I forgot to take pics), maybe it was a shelf or something. I cut it in half and then Gorilla glued both pieces on top of my nightstand after I painted it, and filled in the gap with some wood filler. You can sort of see the seam here.

My inspiration was more white/modern, but I'm not so modern and I didn't really want white. I've been ogling this cool coffee table every time I go to the Galleria, so I almost did turquoise too, but like everything in our house is aqua or teal or turquoise.

I looked through my much-too-full box of paint samples and decided to go with Benjamin Moore Apple Blossom green, a color I almost used in my bedroom.

I thought it was too much for a whole bedroom, but pretty cute for a lil nightstand right?

I made plaster-of-paris chalk paint, so I wouldn't have to prime. That stuff is pretty great! Definitely understand why the blogosphere was nuts over it, it's so easy to use and thick and chalky. I guess you're supposed to use furniture wax, but I finished it with oil-based poly, because I had some, and I thought the yellow color would make a nice antique-y look.

The little trim is from my favorite moulding store and also stuck on with Gorilla glue. The knob is from World Market. I'm not sure it works but it's good enough for now.

Here it is in my bedroom:

The mismatched nightstands are a little weird but the ceiling is actually slanted so I think the height difference works. Half tempted to paint the other one green too but it's actually nice wood, so maybe not. Also I have so much else to do. Let's just leave it weird for now...